Thanks to Jay Vidyarthi, Still Ape Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a chance to read an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

I struggle a lot - particularly these days - with doomscrolling through news and social media feeds, to the point that it crowds out activities that bring me joy or strengthen me. But I’ve also made important friendships and had valuable experiences online. Jay Vidyarthi gets both sides of this issue.

This book doesn’t minimize the way that tech is designed to take ruthless control of your attention or the downsides to tech overuse, but it also is clearheaded about the ubiquity of tech in modern life and the genuine enjoyment it can bring. You won’t be scolded for being attached to your phone here, but you will be encouraged to turn mindful attention on your technology use - to figure out when it’s serving you and when you’re serving it. Experiential activities are included to help guide a more mindful approach to tech.

I came away from this book wanting to implement more of its strategies moving forward. I do wish he’d said more about how tech affects different types of brains - there’s an aside about his arguments and techniques maybe not applying to people who are neurodivergent, and I wish he had fleshed that out more. Some parts of the early book feel repetitive. But overall this is a worthwhile read. I can see myself recommending it to my clients.

I really wanted to love this book. I read quite a bit of social psychology books, and I am very interested in mindfulness and responsible tech usage. This book fell a little flat to me though. An disproportional amount of time seemed to be spent talking about various retreats that the author has gone on. I also disagreed with his stance that tech is nature. Specifically when he says "when we say we want to 'get out in nature,' what we really mean is that we want to get way from human nature." There is a multitude of research that supports how valuable green spaces are. When people "opt outside" they are opting for green spaces and the psychological benefits they deliver. This argument did not hold water for me. Overall, there were a few things I take away from this book, such as making mindful noticings about how tech makes you feel instead of stringent, meaningless limits, but the book left me wanting more. Thanks Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tired of mindlessly spending too much time on your phone? This book offers several strategies to bring awareness to technology usage, fight design with design, and actually give full attention to technology when you do use it.

RECLAIM YOUR MIND is the perfect read for the start of a new year. So many people struggle with addiction to their phone, unhealthy time spent on social media, etc. Vidyarthi has some really good suggestions that I look forward to implementing. His advice is conveyed wisely and without judgment or condescension. This book should have a wide appeal for readers of all ages. I highly recommend it for self-help readers looking for how to have a healthier relationship to technology.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

Overall, the book was well written and I did really enjoy it. Thank you for this advance reading copy!

Reclaim your mind
Synopsis
Self help book for those struggling with technology addiction. It has 7 different strategies and tips on how to limit screen time. It goes over the technical challenges with technology that most people face.

Thoughts
I loved chapter 7 of this book, how to reduce friction. That’s the main one that I’ll try and implement in my life. Though most of the tips are useful. While you don’t have to completely cut out technology from your life, there are still steps and hacks that you can take to improve your usage. I liked chapter 9 as well, positivity is important. I enjoyed having personal recounts of how the author has used technology. It helped me relate to the book better.

Audience
Pretty much for anyone with technology addictions. But it could also be targeted towards both youth and adults. So the book has a wide range of people. Something the author or publisher could do is check the data of how many people use technology and where and target that area.